FARMINGTON – The leaves are falling and cool wind blowing, but nothing signifies the start of fall more than the hustle and bustle of the Farmington Fair.
The Franklin County Agricultural Society opened the gates to the 164th annual Farmington Fair early Sunday morning.
This year’s fair blends a taste of rural crafts and animal exhibits with the usual excitement of games and rides, and ever-popular food and refreshments.
With a full schedule of fair activities throughout the week, fairgoers can enjoy many different pulling competitions, barnyard animal exhibits, baking competitions and much more.
“We always have a great time when we come to the fair, particularly the food,” said Audrey Bamford of Fayette. Bamford and her younger daughter enjoyed their first day at the fair and also got a chance to watch some tractor pulling. “She didn’t want to leave,” said Bamford of her young child.
Nightly entertainment that appeals to both the young and old will range from demolition derbies on Monday and Saturday evenings to some good old fashioned wrestling courtesy of Atlas Pro Wrestling. Musical performances include local country singers Bing and Nancy Crosby on Monday, Thursday and Friday and the Don Campbell Band is scheduled to perform Wednesday evening.
Society secretary Neal Yeaton believes that one of the most important and exciting days of the week is the Agricultural Education Day to take place all day today. “It’s important for the school kids to open their eyes up to a lot of the different things and to see how and where things really come from,” said Yeaton.
Demonstrations will also take place throughout the week thanks to the University of Maine Franklin County Cooperative Extension and those in attendance can learn woodcarving, canning and spinning methods, tree felling and chain saw safety, not to mention fly tying and casting.
“This is the first time we’ve added verbatim for the many different demonstrations,” added Yeaton. The name of the program is Rural Heritage Skills Demonstrations and the many different instructional events can be found throughout the fairgrounds all week long.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $1 for youngsters aged 8 to 11. Children younger than 8 are admitted free and senior citizens get in free on Tuesday. Parking is only $2 and the cost of rides, foods and refreshments vary.
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